Sometimes, album titles are abstract and cryptic, references or in-jokes only appreciated by the most investigative fans or else the band themselves. But on other occasions, a record’s title is so descriptive and fitting that it could never have been called anything else—as though the songs were formed by the theme of the title, rather than the other way around.
After Dark, the latest release from Brooklyn duo Pecas, certainly falls into the latter category. The project of Sandy Davis and Johnny Dynamite, Pecas make a sultry brand of dream pop that feels not so much suited to night but crafted from it, After Dark collecting six soundscapes woven from thick dark air and neon threads.
Opener ‘Tuesdays’ sets the tone, the tempo sluggish and speckled with synths, lending a doped viscosity to the atmosphere where experience is softened and heightened all at once. The vocals of Davis emerge to flit and flutter within this haze, a near whisper as ethereal as the mood itself, all the while the track rising toward something of a crescendo. Once reached however, the moment of crystalline clarity lasts for all but a moment, lucidity slinking back beneath the fog to dissipate once more.
Davis’s vocals on ‘Girl Wonder (One More Chance)’ are breathy and sensual, sighing in the spaces between languid beats and shiny synths, while the breathy ‘French Kiss’ has an unstable edge, as though threatening to escalate or unravel at any moment. ‘Matchstick’ is far sleeker, part funky pop song, part humid and sticky soul, the smooth sax bringing an air of opulent 80s cool as the vocals condense like hot breath on your cheek. As the title suggests ‘Te Olvidaras’ is minimal downbeat disco delivered in Spanish, before closer ‘This is Why (We Can’t)’ paints the shadowy atmosphere with luminous synths and gentle slo-mo firecracker beats.
With After Dark, Pecas deliver an album for the nameless hours of night, where time and even life itself is suspended and experience takes on a strange, otherworldly shimmer. The feeling might seem foreign the next morning, inimitable even, and that is half the charm. The sensation is unique and transient, a chance escape from the banalities of everyday life, so enjoy it while you can.
We’re excited to be able to share the album in its entirety a few days before release, so grab your headphones and turn out the lights.
